familypediawikiaorg-20200214-history
Uttar Pradesh
* 1805 : Ceded and Conquered Provinces * 14 Nov 1834 : Presidency of Agra * 1 Jan 1836 : North-Western Provinces * 3 Apr 1858 : Oudh taken under British control, Delhi taken away from NWP and merged into Punjab * 1 Apr 1871 : Ajmer, Merwara & Kekri made separate commissioner ship * 15 Feb 1877 : Oudh added to North-Western Provinces * 22 Mar 1902 : Renamed United Provinces of Agra and Oudh * 3 Jan 1921 : Renamed United Provinces of British India * 1 Apr 1937 : Renamed United Provinces * 1 Apr 1946 : Self rule granted * 15 Aug 1947 : Part of independent India * 26 Jan 1950 : Renamed Uttar Pradesh * 9 Nov 2000 : Uttaranchal state, now known as Uttarakhand, created from part of Uttar Pradesh | parts_type = Districts | parts_style = para | p1 = 75 total | seat_type = Capital | seat = Lucknow | government_footnotes = | governing_body = Government of India, Government of Uttar Pradesh | leader_title = Governor | leader_name = Banwari Lal Joshi | leader_title1 = Chief Minister | leader_name1 = Akhilesh Yadav (SP) | leader_title2 = Legislature | leader_name2 = Bicameral (404 + 108 seats) | leader_title3 = Parliamentary constituency | leader_name3 = 80 | leader_title4 = High Court | leader_name4 = Allahabad High Court | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 243286 | area_note = | area_rank = 5th | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 199,581,477 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_rank = 1st | population_density_km2 = auto | population_note = | population_demonym = Uttarpradeshi, UPite, Uttar Bharatiya, North Indian |GDPYear = 2011 |GDP = 6,76,083 US$ 125.86 billion |GDPRank = 3rd |GDPperCapita = 30,051 |GDPperCapitaRank = 31st | sex_ratio = 908/1000 | timezone1 = IST | utc_offset1 = +05:30 | ISO = IN-UP | blank_name_sec1 = HDI | blank_info_sec1 = 0.490 (low) | blank1_name_sec1 = HDI rank | blank1_info_sec1 = 32nd (2005) | blank_name_sec2 = Literacy | blank_info_sec2 = 69.72% 79.24% (male) 59.26% (female) | blank1_name_sec2 = Official language | blank1_info_sec2 = Hindi English Urdu | area_code_type = UN/LOCODE | area_code = IN-UP | registration_plate = UP 01—XX | website = upgov.nic.in | footnotes = }} Uttar Pradesh ( , lit. "Northern Province"), abbr. UP, is a state located in northern India. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces, and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. Lucknow is the capital and Kanpur is the commercial capital and the largest city of Uttar Pradesh. On 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved from the mountainous Himalayan region of Uttar Pradesh. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana and Delhi to the northwest, Uttarakhand and the country of Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Jharkhand to the southeast, and Madhya Pradesh to the southwest. It covers , equal to 6.88% of the total area of India, and is the fifth largest Indian state by area. With over 200 million inhabitants as of 2011, it is the most populous state in the country as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts. Uttar Pradesh is the fourth largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of . Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the state's economy. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India, including Magadha, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Kushan, Gupta, Gurjara, Rashtrakuta, Pala and Mughal empires. The two major rivers of the state, the Ganga and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganga further east. The state has several historical, natural, and religious tourist destinations, such as the Taj Mahal, Varanasi, Piprahwa, Kaushambi, Kanpur, Ballia, Shravasti, Kushinagar, Lucknow, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Allahabad, Budaun, Meerut and Mathura. Its also the area of some of the oldest existing cities of Budaun and Varanasi. History Archeological finds have indicated the presence of Stone Age Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers in Uttar Pradesh between aroundConfidence limits for the age are 85 (±11) and 72 (±8) thousand years ago. 85 and 72 thousand years old. Other pre-historical finds have included Middle and Upper Paleolithic artifacts dated to 21–31 thousand years old and Mesolithic/Microlithic hunter-gatherer's settlement, near Pratapgarh, from around 10550–9550 BC. Villages with domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats and evidence of agriculture began as early as 6000 BC, and gradually developed between c. 4000 and 1500 BC beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization and Harappa Culture to the Vedic period; extending into the Iron Age. The kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern day Uttar Pradesh. According to Hindu legend, the divine king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala. Krishna, another divine king of Hindu legend, who plays a key role in the Mahabharata epic and is revered as the eighth reincarnation (Avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu, is said to have been born in the city of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh. The aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, (in what was Kuru Mahajanapada), during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhisthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in North-west India, around 1000 BC. Most of the invaders of North India passed through the Gangetic plains of what is today Uttar Pradesh. Control over this region was of vital importance to the power and stability of all of India's major empires, including the Maurya (320–200 BC), Kushan (100–250 CE), Gupta (350–600 CE), and Gurjara-Pratihara (650–1036 CE) empires. Following the Huns invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of Kannauj. During the reign of Harshavardhana (590–647 CE), the Kannauj empire reached its zenith. It spanned from Punjab in the north and Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and Odisha in the south. It included parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire Indo-Gangetic plain. Many communities in various parts of India claim descent from the migrants of Kannauj. Soon after Harshavardhana's death, his empire disintegrated into many kingdoms, which were invaded and ruled by the Gurjara-Pratihara empire, which challenged Bengal's Pala Empire for control of the region. Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty from the 8th century to the 10th century.The History of India by Kenneth Pletcher p.102The City in South Asia by James Heitzman p.37 founded the Pashtun state of Rohilkhand]] Later, in the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the vast empire of Hindustan, which is used to this day as an alternate name for India. Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Delhi. In 1540 an Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh after defeating the Mughal king Humanyun. Sher Shah and his son Islam Shah ruled Uttar Pradesh from their capital at Gwalior. After the death of Islam Shah Suri, his prime minister Hemu became the de facto ruler of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and the western parts of Bengal. He was bestowed the title of Vikramaditya at his coronation or Rajyabhishake at Purana Quila in Delhi and was titled as Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya. Hemu died in the Second Battle of Panipat, and Uttar Pradesh came under Emperor Akbar's rule. Akbar ruled from Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.Fergus Nicoll, Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor (2009) British rule Starting from Bengal in the second half of the 18th century, a series of battles for north Indian lands finally gave the British East India Company accession over the state's territories. Following the British victory in the Second Anglo-Maratha War, Daulat Rao Sindhia of the Maratha Empire signed the Treaty of Surji-Anjangaon which ceded to the British the Ganges-Jumna Doab, Delhi, and parts of Bundelkhand and Braj. Ajmer and Jaipur kingdoms were also included in this northern territory, which was christened the "North-Western Provinces" (of Agra). Although UP later became the fifth largest state of India, NWPA was one of the smallest states of the British Indian empire. Its capital shifted twice between Agra and Allahabad. Due to dissatisfaction with British rule, a serious rebellion erupted in various parts of North India; Bengal regiment's sepoy stationed at Meerut cantonment, Mangal Pandey, is widely credited as its starting point. It came to be known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After the revolt failed, the British attempted to divide the most rebellious regions by reorganising the administrative boundaries of the region, splitting the Delhi region from ‘NWFP of Agra’ and merging it with Punjab, while the Ajmer- Marwar region was merged with Rajputana and Oudh was incorporated into the state. The new state was called the 'North Western Provinces of Agra and Oudh', which in 1902 was renamed as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It was commonly referred to as the United Provinces or its acronym UP. In 1920, the capital of the province was shifted from Allahabad to Lucknow. The high court continued to be at Allahabad, but a bench was established at Lucknow. Allahabad continues to be an important administrative base of today's Uttar Pradesh and has several administrative headquarters. Uttar Pradesh continued to be central to Indian politics and was especially important in modern Indian history as a hotbed of the Indian independence movement. Uttar Pradesh hosted modern educational institutions such as the Benaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and the Darul Uloom Deoband. Nationally known figures such as Chandra Shekhar Azad were among the leaders of the movement in Uttar Pradesh, and Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Gobind Ballabh Pant were important national leaders of the Indian National Congress. The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was formed at the Lucknow session of the Congress on 11 April 1936, with the famous nationalist Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as its first President, in order to address the longstanding grievances of the peasantry and mobilise them against the zamindari landlords attacks on their occupancy rights, thus sparking the Farmers movements in India. During the Quit India Movement of 1942, Ballia district overthrew the colonial authority and installed an independent administration under Chittu Pandey. Ballia became known as "Baghi Ballia" (Rebel Ballia) for this significant role in India's independence movement. Post-independence After India's independence, the United Provinces were reorganised as Uttar Pradesh in 1957. The state has provided seven of India's prime ministers and is the source of the largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha. Despite its political influence, it poor economic development and administrative record, organised crime and corruption kept it amongst India's backward state. The state has been affected by repeated episodes of caste and communal violence. In December, 1992 the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by radical Hindu activists, leading to widespread violence across India. In 1999, northern districts of the state were separated to form the state of Uttarakhand. Geography Uttar Pradesh, with a total area of , is India’s fifth largest state in terms of land area. It is situated on the northern spout of India and shares an international boundary with Nepal. The Himalayas border the state on the north, but the plains that cover most of the state are distinctly different from those high mountains. The larger Gangetic Plain region is in the north; it includes the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, the Ghaghra plains, the Ganges plains and the Terai. The smaller Vindhya Range and plateau region is in the south. It is characterised by hard rock strata and a varied topography of hills, plains, valleys and plateaus. The Bhabhar tract gives place to the terai area which is covered with tall elephant grass and thick forests interspersed with marshes and swamps. The sluggish rivers of the bhabhar deepen in this area, their course running through a tangled mass of thick under growth. The terai runs parallel to the bhabhar in a thin strip. The entire alluvial plain is divide into three sub-regions. The first in the eastern tract consisting of 14 districts which are subject to periodical floods and droughts and have been classified as scarcity areas. These districts have the highest density of population which gives the lowest per capita land. The other two regions, the central and the western are comparatively better with a well-developed irrigation system. They suffer from water logging and large-scale user tracts. In addition, the area is fairly arid. The state has more than 32 large and small rivers; of them, the Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sarayu, Betwa, and Ghaghara are larger and of religious importance in Hinduism. Cultivation is intensive. The valley areas have fertile and rich soil. There is intensive cultivation on terraced hill slopes, but irrigation facilities are deficient. The Siwalik Range which forms the southern foothills of the Himalayas, slopes down into a boulder bed called 'bhadhar'. The transitional belt running along the entire length of the state is called the terai and bhabhar area. It has rich forests, cutting across it are innumerable streams which swell into raging torrents during the monsoon. Climate Uttar Pradesh has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four seasons. The winter in January and February is followed by summer between March and May and the monsoon season between June and September. Summers are extreme with temperatures fluctuating anywhere between 0 °C and 50 °C in parts of the state. The Gangetic plain varies from semiarid to sub-humid. The mean annual rainfall ranges from 650 mm in the southwest corner of the state to 1000 mm in the eastern and southeastern parts of the state. Primarily a summer phenomenon, the Bay of Bengal branch of the Indian Monsoon is the major bearer of rain in most parts of state. It is the South-West Monsoon which brings most of the rain here, although rain due to the ''western disturbances and North-East Monsoon also contribute small quantities towards the overall precipitation of the state. ||date=June 2012 }} ]] ) showing nectar spur, found mainly in Hardoi district]] The rain in U.P. can vary from an annual average of 170 cm in hilly areas to 84 cm in Western U.P. Given the concentration of most of this rainfall in the 4 months of Monsoon period, excess rain can lead to floods and shortage to droughts. As such, these two phenomena, floods and droughts, commonly recur in the state. The climate of the Vindhya Range and plateau is subtropical with a mean annual rainfall between 1000 and 1200 mm, most of which comes during the monsoon. Typical summer months are from March to June, with maximum temperatures ranging from . There is low relative humidity of around 20% and dust-laden winds blow throughout the season. In summers, hot winds called ''loo blow all across Uttar Pradesh. Flora and fauna The state has an abundance of natural resources. As of 2011, recorded forest area in the state is which is about 6.88% of the state's geographical area. In spite of rapid deforestation and poaching of wildlife, a diverse flora and fauna continue to exist in the state. Several species of trees, large and small mammals, reptiles, and insects are found in the belt of temperate upper mountainous forests. Medicinal plants are found in the wild and are also grown in plantations. The Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands support cattle. Moist deciduous trees grow in the upper Gangetic plain, especially along its riverbanks. This plain supports a wide variety of plants and animals. The Ganges and its tributaries are the habitat of large and small reptiles, amphibians, fresh-water fish, and crabs. Scrubland trees such as the babool and animals such as the chinkara are found in the arid Vindhyas. Tropical dry deciduous forests are found in all parts of the plains. Since much sunlight reaches the ground, shrubs and grasses are also abundant. Large tracts of these forests have been cleared for cultivation. Tropical thorny forests, consisting of widely scattered thorny trees, mainly babool are mostly found in the southwestern parts of the state. These forests are confined to areas which have low annual rainfall (50–70 cm), a mean annual temperature of 25-27 °C and low humidity. Uttar Pradesh is known for its extensive avifauna. The most common birds which are found in the state are doves, peacocks, junglefowl, black partridge, house sparrows, songbirds, blue jays, parakeets, quails, bulbuls, comb ducks, kingfishers, woodpeckers, snipes, and parrots. Bird sanctuaries in the state include Bakhira Sanctuary, National Chambal Sanctuary, Chandra Prabha Sanctuary, Hastinapur Sanctuary, Kaimoor Sanctuary, and Okhla Sanctuary. Other animals in the state include reptiles such as lizards, cobras, kraits, and gharials. Among the wide variety of fishes, the most common ones are mahaseer and trout. Some animal species in Uttar Pradesh have gone extinct in recent years, while others, like the lion from the Gangetic Plain and the rhinoceros from the Terai region, have become endangered. Many species are vulnerable to poaching despite regulation by the government. Divisions, districts and cities ]] Uttar Pradesh is divided into 80 districts under these 18 divisions: The following is a list of top five districts from state of by rank in India. Each district is governed by a district collector or District Magistrate, appointed either by the Indian Administrative Service or Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission. Each district is divided into subdivisions, governed by a sub-divisional magistrate, and again into Blocks. Blocks consists of panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities. These blocks consists of urban units viz. census towns and rural units called gram panchayat. Uttar Pradesh has more metropolitan cities than any other state in India. The absolute urban population of the state is 44.4 million, which constitutes 11.8% of the total urban population of India, the second highest of any state. According to the 2011 census, there are 15 urban agglomerations with a population greater than 500,000. There are 14 municipal corporations, while Noida is specially administered by a statuary authority. In 2011, state's cabinet ministers headed by the then Chief Minister Mayawati announced the separation of Uttar Pradesh into four different states of Purvanchal, Bundelkhand, Avadh Pradesh and Paschim Pradesh with twenty eight, seven, twenty three and seventeen districts respectively, later the proposal was turned down when Mulayam Singh Yadav lead Samajwadi Party came to power in the 2012 election. Demographics |titlebar=#Fcd116 |left1=Religion |right1=Percent |float=right |bars= }} Uttar Pradesh has a large population and a high population growth rate. From 1991 to 2001 its population increased by over 26%. Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India, with 199,581,477 people as of 1 March 2011. The state contributes 16.16% of India's population. The population density is 828 people per square kilometre, making it one of the densest states in the country. The sex ratio as of 2011, at 908 women to 1000 men, is lower than the national figure of 933. The state's 2001–2011 decennial growth rate (including Uttrakhand) was 20.09%, higher than the national rate of 17.64%. Uttar Pradesh has a large number of people living below the poverty line. Estimates released by the Planning Commission for the year 2004-05 revealed that Uttar Pradesh had 59 million people below the poverty line, the most for any state in India. As of the 2001 Indian census, about 80% of Uttar Pradesh's population is Hindu, while Muslims make up around 18.4%, being the second-largest community and the largest minority group. The remainder consist of Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, and Jains. Uttar Pradesh has many Hindu Temples including at Varanasi, Allahabad and Gorakhpur. The literacy rate of the state according to the 2011 Census is 70%, which is below the national average of 74%. While the literacy rate for men is at 79%, it is 59% for women. In 2001, the literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh stood at 56.27% overall, and 67% and 43% for men and women, respectively. Hindi is the only state-wide official language of Uttar Pradesh. The Hindu people regard their language a very important part of their cultural identity. Hindi is spoken as the first language by 89.43% of the population. Most people in Uttar Pradesh speak a dialect of Hindustani, which in its written forms is referred to as Urdu and Hindi. A large number of other dialects exist. Five distinct dialect regions have been identified. The western part of the state, Rohilkhand and the upper Doab, is home to the speakers of Khari Boli. The lower Doab, which is referred as Braj Bhumi, or the land of Braj, is home to the speakers of Braj Bhasha. Further south, the Bundelkhand region people speaks Bundelkhandi. In central Uttar Pradesh, people speak the Awadhi dialect and Bhojpuri is spoken in the east. Indian states are defined on the languages they spoke, and eastern Uttar Pradesh primarily speaks Bhojpuri and their culture is identical to Bihar. This creates no central identity of Uttar Pradesh. Urdu has been declared as a secondary official language by the government of Uttar Pradesh in 1989. The official state notifications are mandatory to be published in Urdu. The official Gazette, circulars, notifications, acts of state legislature are required to be published in Urdu. In addition a number of district administrations are required to publish all information in Urdu along with Hindi. These include Meerut, Bareilly, Budaun, Lucknow, Muzaffarnagar and others.URDU IN UTTAR PRADESH AND UTTARANCHAL, A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D. Hindi is the official language, and Urdu is used for seven specific purposes, similar to those for which it is used in Bihar. }} Government and politics is the fourth oldest high court of India]] Since Uttar Pradesh sends the largest number of legislators to the national Parliament, it is often considered to be one of the most important states with respect to Indian politics. The state contributes 80 seats to the Lok Sabha and 35 seats to the Rajya Sabha of the Indian Parliament. Uttar Pradesh has been called India's under-achiever, because it has provided India with eight prime ministers while remaining a poor state. The state's legislative body is divided into two significant parts: Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad and Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. The state is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature the state shares with other Indian states. The Governor is the head of state and is appointed by the President of India. The leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Legislative Assembly is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor, and the Council of Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister. In the 2012 election, the largest number of seats went to the Samajwadi Party with 224 seats. At the local level, the state has a large number of village councils (panchayats''), which are similar to those found in other Indian states. The administration in each district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner who belongs to the Indian Administrative Service and is assisted by a number of officers belonging to state services. Judges and judicial officers are appointed non-politically and under strict rules regarding tenure to help maintain constitutional independence from the government. This theoretically allows the judiciary to interpret the law based solely on the legislation enacted by Parliament without other influences on their decisions. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service and assisted by the officers of the Uttar Pradesh Police Service, is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues in each district. The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, also serves the government. Sectoral development in the districts is looked after by the district head of each development department such as the Department of Public Works, Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, etc. The judiciary in the state consists of the Allahabad High Court in Allahabad, district courts namely the District court of Etawah, the district court of Kanpur Dehat and district courts in each districts as Uttar Pradesh Judiciary, session courts in each district or Sessions Division, lower courts and judges at the taluka level. The President of India appoints the chief justice of the High Court of the Uttar Pradesh judiciary on the advice of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of India as well as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Other judges are appointed by the chief justice of the high court of the judiciary of Uttar Pradesh on the advice of the Chief Justice. Subordinate Judicial Service is another vital part of the judiciary of Uttar Pradesh. The subordinate judiciary or the district courts are categorized into two divisions viz. Uttar Pradesh civil judicial services and Uttar Pradesh higher judicial service. While the Uttar Pradesh civil judicial services comprises the Civil Judges (Junior Division)/Judicial Magistraes and civil judges (Senior Division)/Chief Judicial Magistrate, the Uttar Pradesh higher judicial service comprises civil and sessions judges. The Subordinate judicial service of the judiciary at Uttar Pradesh is controlled by the District Judge. The district court of Etawah and district court of Kanpur Dehat of Uttar Pradesh serves as the subordinate judicial service of the state. Crime According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of crimes among any state in India, but still it is one of the safest states to live in due to high population, which makes the actual per capita crime rate low. While, Uttar Pradesh appears to be the most crime-infested state as per the NCRB statistics, the same agency, computing the criminality factor of the state (computed on the basis of crime per lakh of population) states that UP is the 'third-most safe' state in the country to live in. However, the value of human development index in Uttar Pradesh has steadily increased over time. As of today, Uttar Pradesh has the second largest Civil police force with 107,840 members, accounting for 9.5% of the total civil police in the country. Terror attacks Since 2006, there have been a number of terrorist attacks, including explosions in a landmark holy place, a court and a temple. The 2006 Varanasi bombings were a series of bombings that occurred across the Hindu holy city of Varanasi on 7 March 2006. At least 28 people were killed and as many as 101 others were injured. The blasts occurred simultaneously shortly after 18:00 IST. The first blast took place at 18:20 in the crowded Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple near the Banaras Hindu University. Other blasts followed at the Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station near the waiting area next to the travel office. Initially, another blast was reported inside the stationary Shivganga Express bound for Delhi. In the afternoon of 23 November 2007, within a span of 25 minutes, six consecutive serial blasts occurred in the Lucknow, Varanasi, and Faizabad courts, in which 28 people were killed and several others injured. The blasts came a week after the Uttar Pradesh police and central security agencies busted Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who had planned to abduct Rahul Gandhi. The Indian Mujahidin has claimed responsibility of these blasts in an email sent to TV stations five minutes before the blast. The first blast occurred in the premises of the Varanasi civil court and collectorate between 13:05 and 13:07. Two successive blasts occurred in the Faizabad district court around 13:12 and 13:15, closely followed by one at Lucknow at 13:32. Bombs were explicitly targeted at the lawyers who were working in the courts. On 7 December 2010, another blast occurred at Sheetla Ghat, adjacent to the main Dashashwamedh Ghat, in which more than 38 people were killed and several others injured. The blast came a day after the anniversary of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, in which a mosque was demolished at Ayodhya leading to nationwide religious riots that killed over 2,000 people. Economy In terms of net state domestic product (NSDP), Uttar Pradesh holds the third largest economy (2011–2012) in India, with an NSDP of . Agriculture is the leading occupation in Uttar Pradesh. Wheat is the state's principal food crop and sugarcane is the main commercial crop. About 70% of India's sugar comes from Uttar Pradesh. State industries are localised in the Kanpur region, the fertile purvanchal lands and the Noida region. The Mughalsarai is home to a number of major locomotive plants. Major manufacturing products include engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches, and wagons. More small-scale industrial units are situated in Uttar Pradesh than in any other state, with 12 percent of over 2.3 million units. With 359 manufacturing clusters cement is top sector of SMEs in UP. The Uttar Pradesh Financial Corporation (UPFC) was established in the year 1954 under the SFCs Act of 1951 mainly to develop small and medium scale industries in the state. UPFC provides financial assistance to new and existing units undergoing diversification, modernization, expansion, or acquisition of fixed assets such as land, buildings, and machinery. The UPFC also provides working capital to existing units with a sound track record and to new units under a single window scheme. As of July 2012, due to financial constraints and directions from the state government, lending activities have been suspended except for State Government Schemes. Nevertheless, unemployment, corruption and an inconsistent electricity supply remain among the major problems of the state. The state also has "marked income inequality". In 2009–10, the tertiary sector of the economy (service industries) was the largest contributor to the gross domestic product of the state, contributing 44.8% of the state domestic product compared to 44% from the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, and tourism) and 11.2% from the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing). During the 11th five-year plan (2007–2012), the average gross state domestic product (GSDP) growth rate was 7.28%, lower than 15.5%, the average for all states of the country. The state’s per capita GSDP was , lower than the national per capita GSDP of . The state's total financial debt stood at as of 2011. Labour efficiency is higher at an index of 26 than the national average of 25. The economy also benefits from the state's tourism industry. The state is attracting foreign direct investment which has mostly come in the software and electronics fields; Noida and Lucknow is becoming a major hub for the information technology (IT) industry. Sonebhadra, a district in eastern Uttar Pradesh, has large-scale industries. Its southern region is known as the "Energy Capital Of India". Uttar Pradesh also has the largest number of mobile subscribers in the country, total of 121.60 million mobile phone connections out of 861.66 million in India, according to the telecom regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI, as of May 2013. Transportation , Lucknow.]] near New Delhi]] The state has excellent civil aviation infrastructure with two international airports at Lucknow and Varanasi and four domestic airports located at Agra, Allahabad, Gorakhpur and Kanpur. Two of the airports, Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow and Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, provide international service. The state has also proposed creating the Taj international airport in the Delhi‐NCR region. A stretch of the Ganges – from Allahabad to Haldia has been declared as a National Waterway (NW)-I; 600 km of which flows through Uttar Pradesh. Captain Lakshmi Sehgal International Airport is proposed international airport near Kanpur Dehat at Jainpur which is about 50 km from Kanpur and comes in Kanpur Metropolitan Area.When completed it will be the second largest airport in Northern India with flights all over the world. This is because industrial areas of Kanpur, Agra and Kannauj lie here. It will be bigger than Lucknow Airport with more flights as compared to Lucknow Airport.An international Airport is proposed at Kushinagar. Gorakhpur has a regional airport Gorakhpur Airport and has flights to various Indian cities,other than this it is Indian air force base. The state has the largest railway network in the country and the sixth highest railway density. As 0f 2011, there were of rail in the state. Allahabad is the headquarters of the North Central Railway and Gorakhpur is the headquarters of the North Eastern Railway. Lucknow Swarna Shatabdi Express, the second fastest shatabdi train, connects the Indian capital of New Delhi to Lucknow. This was the first train in India to get new German coaches. The railway stations of Kanpur Central, Lucknow NR, Varanasi Junction, Agra Cantt, Gorakhpur and Mathura Junction were included in the Indian Railways list of 50 world-class railway stations. Kanpur Central is second largest railway station after in Northern India after New Delhi Railway Station and largest within the state followed by Lucknow NR. The state has a large, multimodal transportation system with the largest road network in the country. The state is well connected to its nine neighboring states and almost all other parts of India through the national highways (NH). It boasts 42 national highways, with a total length of 4,942 km (9.6% of the total NH length in India). The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation was established in 1972 to provide economical, reliable, and comfortable transportation in the state with connecting services to adjoining states. All cities are connected to state highways, which carry traffic between major centres within the state. Other district roads and village roads provide villages accessibility to meet their social needs as also the means to transport agriculture produce from village to nearby markets. Major district roads provide a secondary function of linking between main roads and rural roads. Uttar Pradesh has the seventh-highest road density in India, (1027 km per 1000 km2 as of 2002) and the largest surfaced urban-road network in the country (50,721 km as of 2002). The National Golden Quadrilateral of India passes through Jhansi, Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, and Varanasi. There is an existing expressway between Lucknow and Kanpur; and new expressways are being built between Agra and Noida and between Noida and Ballia, known as the Yamuna Expressway and the Ganga Expressway, respectively. The state has established the to develop seven new expressways. These projects includes Upper Ganga Canal Expressway, Bijnore–Moradabad–Budaun-Fatehgarh Expressway, Jhansi–Kanpur–Lucknow–Gorakhpur–Kushinagar Expressway, Lucknow–Barabanki–Nanpara link Expressway, Agra–Kanpur Expressway, Kanpur 1st Outer Ring Road, From Narora up to 10 km before the boundary of Uttarakhand state. The eight lane Kanpur Metropolitan Bypass is proposed by NHAI which connects Ajgain in Unnao District with Akbarpur, Kanpur Dehat via Maharajpur, Bidhnu and Jainpur.The bypass will be of around 110 km. The state highway 33 between Budaun and Bareilly would be the first to be a State highway with toll tax. Sports ]] Popular sports in Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two groups: traditional sports and modern sports of mainly European origin. Athletes from the state have included the field hockey player Dhyan Chand, Olympic shooter Nawab Mian, volleyball player Sanjiv Balian, and the wrestler Anuj. Traditional sports, now played mostly as a pastime, include wrestling, swimming, kabaddi, and track- or water-sports played according to local traditional rules and without modern equipment. Some sports are designed to display martial skills such as using a sword or ‘Pata’ (stick). Due to lack of organised patronage and requisite facilities, these sports survive mostly as individuals' hobbies or local competitive events. Among modern sports, field hockey is popular and Uttar Pradesh has produced some of the finest players in India, including Dhyan Chand and, more recently, Nitin Kumar and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay. Recently, cricket has become more popular than field hockey. Uttar Pradesh won its first Ranji Trophy tournament in February 2006, beating Bengal in the final. It can also boast of routinely having 3 or 4 players on the national side. Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, the only internationally recognised cricket stadium in the state, has witnessed some of India's most famous victories. Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA) has headquarter in Kanpur. Faizabad Sports Complex is another sports venue in Uttar Pradesh which includes Faizabad International Sports Stadium. Greater Noida Cricket Stadium is another newly built international cricket stadium. The Buddh International Circuit hosted India’s inaugural F1 Grand Prix race on 30 October 2011. The 5.14 km long circuit was designed by German architect and racetrack designer Herman Tilke to compete with other world-class race circuits. Education is a world's first school for handicap]] Uttar Pradesh has a long tradition of education, although historically it was primarily confined to the elite class and religious schools. Sanskrit-based learning formed the major part of education from the Vedic to the Gupta periods. As cultures traveled through the region they brought their bodies of knowledge with them, adding Pali, Persian, and Arabic scholarship to the community. These formed the core of Hindu-Buddhist-Muslim education until the rise of British colonialism. The present schools-to-university system of education owes its inception and development in the state (as in the rest of the country) to foreign Christian missionaries and the British colonial administration. Schools in the state are either managed by the government or by private trusts. Hindi is used as a medium of instruction in most of the schools except those affiliated to the CBSE or the Council for ICSE boards. Under the 10+2+3 plan, after completing secondary school, students typically enroll for 2 years in a junior college, also known as pre-university, or in schools with a higher secondary facility affiliated with the Uttar Pradesh Board of High School and Intermediate Education or a central board. Students choose from one of three streams, namely liberal arts, commerce, or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students may enroll in general or professional degree programs. Uttar Pradesh has more than 30 universities, including 4 central universities, 20 state universities, 8 deemed universities, 2 IITs, 1 IIM in Lucknow, 1 NIT in Allahabad and several polytechnics, engineering colleges and industrial training institutes. Prestigious institutes like the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, and the Harcourt Butler Technological Institute are known worldwide for their quality education and research in their respective fields. The presence of such institutions provides the students of the state with ample opportunities for higher education. Other universities in the state include Gautam Buddha University, Banaras Hindu University, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Aligarh Muslim University, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University, University of Allahabad, Indian Veterinary Research Institute Bareilly, IMT Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Technical University, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, and King George's Medical University. The Integral University, a state level institution, was established by the Uttar Pradesh Government to provide education in different technical, applied science, and other disciplines. The Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies was founded as an autonomous organisation by the national ministry of culture. Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University is the only university established exclusively for the disabled in the world. A large number of Indian scholars are educated at different universities in Uttar Pradesh. The state has produced likes of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Motilal Nehru, Harish Chandra and Indira Gandhi. Tourism Uttar Pradesh ranks first in domestic tourist arrivals with more than 71 million, owing to its rich and varied topography, vibrant culture, festivals, monuments, ancient places of worship, and viharas. Thousands gather at Allahabad to take part in the Magh Mela festival on the banks of the Ganges. This festival is organised on a larger scale every 12th year and is called the Kumbha Mela, where over 10 million Hindu pilgrims congregate in one of the largest gatherings of people in the world. The historically important towns of Sarnath and Kushinagar are located not far from Varanasi. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon after his enlightenment at Sarnath and died at Kushinagar; both are important pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. Also at Sarnath are the Pillars of Ashoka and the Lion Capital of Ashoka, both important archaeological artifacts with national significance. At a distance of 80 km from Varanasi, Ghazipur is famous not only for its Ganges Ghats but also for the tomb of the British potentate Lord Cornwallis, maintained by the Archeological Survey of India. Lucknow, the capital of the state, has several beautiful historical monuments such as Bara Imambara and Chhota Imambara. It has also preserved the damaged complex of the Oudh-period British Resident's quarters, which are being restored. Uttar Pradesh gives access to three World Heritage Sites: the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and the nearby Fatehpur Sikri. Varanasi is an ancient city famous for its ghats. To promote tourism, the Directorate of Tourism was established in the 1972 with a Director General who is an I.A.S. officer. In 1974 the Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation was established to look after the commercial tourist activities. DEI Deemed University Culture Language and literature Several texts and hymns of the Vedic literature were composed in Uttar Pradesh. The festival of ''Guru Purnima is dedicated to Sage Vyasa, and also known as Vyasa Purnima as it is the day which is believed to be his birthday and also the day he divided the Vedas. There is a long literary and folk Hindi language tradition in the state. In the 19th and 20th century, Hindi literature was modernised by authors such as Jaishankar Prasad, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Munshi Premchand, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, Babu Gulabrai, Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya', Rahul Sankrityayan, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Dharamvir Bharati, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Dushyant Kumar, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Bharatendu Harishchandra, Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, Shivmangal Singh Suman, Mahadevi Varma, and Vibhuti Narain Rai. The state is sometimes called the 'Hindi heartland of India'. Hindi became the language of state administration with the Uttar Pradesh Official Language Act of 1951. A 1989 amendment to the act added Urdu as another native language of the state. Linguistically, the state spreads across the Central, East-Central, and Eastern zones of the Indo-Aryan languages, the major native languages of the state being Awadhi, Bundeli, Braj Bhasha, Kannauji and the vernacular form of Khariboli. Music and dance Uttar Pradesh has produced musicians, including Anup Jalota, Baba Sehgal, Girija Devi, Gopal Shankar Misra, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Kishan Maharaj, Naushad Ali, Ravi Shankar, Shubha Mudgal, Siddheshwari Devi, Talat Mehmood, and Ustad Bismillah Khan. The Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar was a native of Uttar Pradesh. The region's folk heritage includes songs called rasiya (especially popular in Braj), which celebrate the divine love of Radha and Krishna. Other forms of music are kajari, sohar, qawwali, rasiya, thumri, birha, chaiti, and sawani. Traditional dance and musical styles are taught at the Bhatkhande Music Institute University in Lucknow, named after the musician Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. Kathak, a classical dance form, owes its origin to the state of Uttar Pradesh. The dance form is connected to classical Hindustani music where the rhythmic nimbleness of the feet is accompanied by the Tabla or Pakhawaj. Two schools of this dance form, Lucknow gharana and Benares gharana, are situated in Uttar Pradesh. Fairs and festivals of knowledge, music, arts, and science]] priest saluting the sun in the Ganges, Varanasi]] Diwali (celebrated between mid-October and mid-December) and Rama Navami are popular festivals in Uttar Pradesh. Kumbh Mela, organised in the month of Maagha (Feb-March), is a major festival held every three years in rotation at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain, and Nasik on the river Ganges. Lath mar Holi is a local celebration of the Hindu festival of Holi. It takes place well before the actual Holi in the town of Barsana near Mathura. Taj Mahotsav, held annually at Agra, is a colorful display of the culture of the Braj area. Buddha Purnima, which marks the birth of Gautama Buddha, is a major Hindu and Buddhist festival, while Christmas is celebrated by the minority Christian population. Other festivals are Vijayadashami, Makar Sankranti, Vasant Panchami, Ayudha Puja, Ganga Mahotsava, Janmashtami, Sardhana Christian Fair, Maha Shivaratri, Mahavir Jayanti, Moharram, Bārah Wafāṭ, Eid, Bakreed, Chhath puja, Lucknow Mahotsav, Kabob and Hanuman Jayanti. Cuisine , sultani dal, raita, and shahi paneer|thumb|200px]] A typical day-to-day traditional vegetarian meal of Uttar Pradesh, like any other North Indian thali, consists of roti (flatbread), chawal, dal, sabji, raita and papad. Many people still drink the traditional drink chaach with meals. On festive occasions, usually 'tava' (flat pan for roti) is considered inauspicious, and instead fried foods are consumed. A typical festive thali consists of Puri, Kachauri, sabji, pulav, papad, raita, salad and desserts (such as sewai or kheer). Many communities have their own particular style of cuisines, such as the Jains, Kayasths and Muslims. There are also certain sub-regional delicacies. Awadhi cuisine is world famous for dishes such as kebab, biryani, keema and nihari. Sweets occupy an important place in the Hindu diet and are eaten at social ceremonies. People make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including khurchan, peda, gulabjamun, petha, makkhan malai, and chamcham. The chaat in Lucknow and Banarasi Paan is known across India for its flavour and ingredients. '''Awadhi cuisine' ( , }}) is from the city of Lucknow, which is the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh in Central-South Asia and Northern India, and the cooking patterns of the city are similar to those of Central Asia, the Middle East, and Northern India as well. The cuisine consists of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Awadh has been greatly influenced by Mughal cooking techniques, and the cuisine of Lucknow bears similarities to those of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad; and the city is known for Nawabi foods. The bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh gave birth to the dum style of cooking or the art of cooking over a slow fire, which has become synonymous with Lucknow today. Their spread consisted of elaborate dishes like kebabs, kormas, biryani, kaliya, nahari-kulchas, zarda, sheermal, roomali rotis, and warqi parathas. The richness of Awadh cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron. Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking developed in the Indian subcontinent by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire. It represents the cooking styles used in North India (especially Uttar Pradesh. The cuisine is strongly influenced by the Persian cuisine of Iran, and has in turn strongly similarities to the regional cuisines of Kashmir and the Punjab region. The tastes of Mughlai cuisine vary from extremely mild to spicy, and is often associated with a distinctive aroma and the taste of ground and whole spices. Dress The people of Uttar Pradesh dress in a variety of traditional and Western styles. Traditional styles of dress include colourful draped garments – such as sari for women and dhoti or lungi for men – and tailored clothes such as salwar kameez for women and kurta-pyjama for men. Men often sport head-gear like topi or pagri. Sherwani is a more formal male dress and is frequently worn along with chooridar on festive occasions. European-style trousers and shirts are also common among the men. Media A number of newspapers and periodicals are published in Hindi, English, and Urdu. The Pioneer was founded in Allahabad in 1865 by George Allen. Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar, and Dainik Jagran, have a wide circulation, with local editions published from several important cities. Major English language newspapers which are published and sold in large numbers are The Telegraph, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Statesman, The Indian Express, and Asian Age. Some prominent financial dailies like The Economic Times, Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard are widely circulated. Vernacular newspapers such as those in Hindi, Nepali, Gujarati, Oriya, Urdu, and Punjabi are also read by a select readership. Doordarshan is the state-owned television broadcaster. Multi system operators provide a mix of Hindi, English, Bengali, Nepali and international channels via cable. Hindi 24-hour television news channels are NDTV India, DD News, Zee News Uttar Pradesh, Jan TV, IBN-7, and ABP News. All India Radio is a public radio station. There are 32 private FM stations available in major cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Agra, and Noida. Cell phone providers include Vodafone, Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Communications, Uninor, Aircel, MTS India, Tata Indicom, Idea Cellular, and Tata DoCoMo. Broadband internet is available in select towns and cities and is provided by the state-run BSNL and by private companies. Dial-up access is provided throughout the state by BSNL and other providers. See also *Outline of India *List of Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh *List of Governors of Uttar Pradesh *List of people from Uttar Pradesh *Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary References External links * Uttar Pradesh Government Website * Department of Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh * * Uttar Pradesh Districts * Uttar Pradesh Districts Map Mid-Western Region, Western Region, |East = Bihar |Southeast = Jharkhand Chhattisgarh |South = Madhya Pradesh |Southwest = Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh |West = Haryana Rajasthan |Northwest = Himachal Pradesh Haryana Delhi }} Category:Uttar Pradesh Category:States and territories established in 1834 Category:States and territories of India Category:Urdu-speaking countries and territories